Hi Brewers,
I am having a hell of a time getting my brews to ferment out lately.
I had started using liquid Wyeast recently and haven't had much luck so far.
Firstly I tried a lager, Wyeast Munich Lager II (2352), but never proofed the yeast or did a starter.
It went nowhere, literally moved a couple of gravity points only. I figured the liquid yeast must have been DOA; Had to repitch dry yeast to get it going.
Then I tried a farmhouse; Wyeast 3724 - Belgian Saison, again no starter.
Starting with OG of 1054 - and got stuck at 1030, left for 20days! Again had to repitch dry yeast to get it going; finished at 1011, so the sugars were fermentable.
After some research, I thought for my next two batches I would, firstly, airate the wort thoroughly with a beer stone, and secondly, would make a yeast starter.
My most recent brown ale, with Wyeast 1469PC - West Yorkshire Ale, I made a good healthy starter which was going furiously after 24hrs, then I added to the fully airated wort. (8hours running the beer stone)
A good OG of 1055, it took off fermenting beautifully for the first few days, and then slowed down.
It has now been 14 days, and it looks to be stuck again at 1030!
By this stage I had had enough of liquid yeasts and made another batch using a dry yeast from CraftBrewer American Ale
So an APA, fully airated wort, nice heavy OG at 1068. It started fermenting staight away, looking good.
And to my amazement is now stuck 14 days later at 1040!!
What the hell is going on?? this stuck fermentation problem seems to be independant of yeast, malt, gravity.
I am fermenting in a dark, (fairly steady temp) room at 21deg +/- 3 degs. Pitching at 21deg.
So again, I am going to have to throw more dry yeast at these batches to get them to finish.
I never used to have these problems at all - anyone have any idea what could be causing this?
My only idea is that my steriliser is too strong? or not rising out of the fermenters between cleans. could this be killing/impairing the yeast?
Surely not if I am observing such healthy starts to the fermentation with heaps of (Krausen?) within 12hrs of pitching.
Anyone else experienced this? Its driving me crazy.
Note: I have verified all these OG and SG values with both Hydrometer and Refractometer. All brews are full all grain mash.
I am having a hell of a time getting my brews to ferment out lately.
I had started using liquid Wyeast recently and haven't had much luck so far.
Firstly I tried a lager, Wyeast Munich Lager II (2352), but never proofed the yeast or did a starter.
It went nowhere, literally moved a couple of gravity points only. I figured the liquid yeast must have been DOA; Had to repitch dry yeast to get it going.
Then I tried a farmhouse; Wyeast 3724 - Belgian Saison, again no starter.
Starting with OG of 1054 - and got stuck at 1030, left for 20days! Again had to repitch dry yeast to get it going; finished at 1011, so the sugars were fermentable.
After some research, I thought for my next two batches I would, firstly, airate the wort thoroughly with a beer stone, and secondly, would make a yeast starter.
My most recent brown ale, with Wyeast 1469PC - West Yorkshire Ale, I made a good healthy starter which was going furiously after 24hrs, then I added to the fully airated wort. (8hours running the beer stone)
A good OG of 1055, it took off fermenting beautifully for the first few days, and then slowed down.
It has now been 14 days, and it looks to be stuck again at 1030!
By this stage I had had enough of liquid yeasts and made another batch using a dry yeast from CraftBrewer American Ale
So an APA, fully airated wort, nice heavy OG at 1068. It started fermenting staight away, looking good.
And to my amazement is now stuck 14 days later at 1040!!
What the hell is going on?? this stuck fermentation problem seems to be independant of yeast, malt, gravity.
I am fermenting in a dark, (fairly steady temp) room at 21deg +/- 3 degs. Pitching at 21deg.
So again, I am going to have to throw more dry yeast at these batches to get them to finish.
I never used to have these problems at all - anyone have any idea what could be causing this?
My only idea is that my steriliser is too strong? or not rising out of the fermenters between cleans. could this be killing/impairing the yeast?
Surely not if I am observing such healthy starts to the fermentation with heaps of (Krausen?) within 12hrs of pitching.
Anyone else experienced this? Its driving me crazy.
Note: I have verified all these OG and SG values with both Hydrometer and Refractometer. All brews are full all grain mash.